


Should Have Seen It Coming

by Badassium1970



Category: Game Grumps, Starbomb
Genre: Angst, Egoraptor - Freeform, First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Mental Link, Mute Brian, Ninjaraptor, Polygrumps, ShipGrumps, Unrequited Love, danny sexbang - Freeform, in-universe, ninja brian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-19 07:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14231922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badassium1970/pseuds/Badassium1970
Summary: Ninja Brian and Ego both have unrequited crushes on Danny. They find comfort in each other.





	1. Chapter 1

Ninja Brian should have seen this coming.

Ego and Danny had been flirting for a while. It wasn’t uncommon for Danny to flirt with people, regardless of gender, it was just how he was. If he wasn’t flirting then that meant he either hated the person or something was wrong. When with a guy though, Danny usually wasn’t so bad. He didn’t like leading people on.

At first, Brian figured it was just because they were working together. Danny had stated time and time again that he wasn’t anything other than heterosexual so nothing was going to happen. He didn’t need to worry.

Brian now knew that he was wrong.

That night he had heard Ego and Danny having sex. While Ego had a fancy space mansion, he failed on making sure it was soundproof. Brian could hear everything that happened and it broke him.

Seeing Danny go off with random women was hard enough, but at least Brian knew that Danny wasn’t interested in him because of his gender and not because he was unattractive. Now Brian wasn’t sure what to think. Maybe he was just unattractive and that was why Danny never made a move. It could be considered a far stretch but considering Danny’s personality maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched.

A bigger part of Ninja Brian didn’t even care that Dan and Ego were having sex and instead feared losing Danny to the other man. Ego was an extremely talented musician, and he came with the added benefit of not being an overly paranoid ninja. He was also very handsome both on the inside and outside. It would make sense if the pair started their own band together, they were sure to be successful. The thoughts made Brian’s heartache and he found himself crying.

It wasn’t often that he cried. While he was at the ninja camp it was one of many things he was punished for and soon Brian learnt to hide his pain. If he ever cried he was afraid of being tortured again. Living with Danny taught him that it’s okay to be emotional, but Ninja Brian still found it difficult.

Now he didn’t care. He doubted any physical pain could hurt him as much as this.

He must have cried himself to sleep because when he woke up he struggled to open his eyes due to dried tears and he felt dehydrated. Memories from the previous night filled his head, the moaning, the sweet nothings, everything he wished he could have but never would.

Moving hurt. Ninja Brian knew that he must have slept in an awkward position and his body wasn’t happy about it. When he stood he felt light-headed due to crying for so long. Still, he knew that he needed to build up his strength again and stop pitying himself. Pulling his mask on, Brian made his way to the kitchen, hoping that he wouldn’t run into his bandmates.

Brian got himself a glass of water and some fruit, unable to stomach anything else. He thought about making breakfast for Danny and Ego, as he usually did because he was always the first one to wake up but he decided against it. They could feed themselves. He took his breakfast to his room and locked himself away for most of the day, saying that he wanted some time alone when asked which Danny just shrugged off, knowing that sometimes Ninja Brian found it hard to be around people. Ego could see that it was something else. He could see the upset in Ninja Brian’s eyes but knew better than to ask straight away, especially if he wasn’t willing to tell Danny.

He waited until Danny went out. Normally Ninja Brian would follow him but he was still confining himself to his room. Ego knew that now was the best time to ask Brian what was wrong, he just hoped that it didn’t end in his death.

Knocking on the door to Brian’s room earned him no reply but Ego knew Ninja Brian was still in there.

“Hey Brian, I uh, I know something’s up and I-I was wondering if you like, I dunno, wanted to talk about it?” Ego called from the other side of the door.

Nothing.

“Brian, please? I hate to see you upset.”

Still nothing.

“You know I have a key card to open this door, right? Come on man, I’m worried about you.”

The door finally opened. Ego felt bad for the minor threat, but it was justified. He needed to know that Ninja Brian was okay.

Just by looking at him Ego could see he wasn’t.

Ninja Brian looked pale, even though Ego could only see part of his face it was clear that his skin had a sickly look to it. His eyes were rimmed red from crying. Even without those signs, it was clear that something was wrong by the way he seemed to curl in on himself instead of his usual body language that conveyed his strength.

Ego sat at the edge of the bed, not invading Brian’s personal space, something that only Danny got away with.

“Hey, no offence but you aren’t looking so good. Are you sick?”

Brian shook his head. He’d thrown up from crying a few times but he wasn’t actually ill.

“Oh, well, what’s up, I mean you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want. Just, like, ya know, I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Ninja Brian hated that Ego was so nice. Why couldn’t he have been an asshole? The hatred Brian was feeling made him want to kill Ego but Ego’s kindness stopped him. So did the fact that working with Ego made Danny happy and he didn’t think he’d ever earn back Danny’s forgiveness if he murdered Ego.

Brian looked at Ego for the first time in a few days but didn’t see what he expected.

Sure, Ego looked handsome as always and wore a kind smile, but there was a sadness behind his eyes that Brian had never seen before. It was that sadness that made Brian confide in Ego.

He hadn’t created a mental link with Ego, meaning that he had to use sign language. Brian made sure to sign slowly and used simple words, knowing that Ego had only begun learning sign language for a short while.

The only words that Ego understood were his name, Danny’s name and the word fucking, and while Ninja Brian signed more than that, Ego got the general idea of what Brian was saying and why he was upset.

“I-I am so sorry Brian, I didn’t… I guess I just assumed you acted as you did around him because of how close you were, as friends I mean. I honestly, Brian I truly didn’t know.” Ego felt horrible and wished that he had seen the way Ninja Brian felt, but he had been blind sighted by his own feelings.

Brian nodded, showing that he understood and believed him. He knew that Ego would never go out of his way to hurt anyone.

“If it… If it helps, we aren’t, we aren’t dating or anything,” Ego felt his eyes tearing up.

Ninja Brian looked at him, concerned and confused.

“He-he just wanted to see if he liked guys… He said it was fun, sex is s-sex, but-but he liked girls more.” Tears spilt from Ego’s eyes. He couldn’t hold them back anymore. For days he’d needed to get this off of his chest but couldn’t because the only person he’d been around was Danny and even if Brian had been available Ego didn’t think it was a good idea to bad mouth his best friend to him.

“I was just-just an experiment,” Ego sobbed. He felt so stupid. Of course it would have only been a one-time thing, whether Danny had realised he was into guys or not. Danny didn’t do serious relationships and Ego was a fool to think anything would change. He should have said no, but his crush, his desire for Danny, made his abandon logic. Ego had forgotten how dangerous love could be.

Ninja Brian hadn’t considered the fact that Ego was in love with Danny. With the number of girls that agreed to have sex with Danny purely because they thought he was attractive and where willing to ignore his persona he hid behind, who weren’t willing to actually get to know him, Brian had convinced himself that he was the only one who could truly love Danny for who he was, but that wasn’t fair. Ego had discovered the real Danny as well, and even if he hadn’t anyone could fall in love with the fake version of himself that he put out into the world.

Brian comforted Ego, gently rubbing Ego’s back with one hand as Ego sobbed. Any anger that Ninja Brian had previously felt had vanished and instead, he felt sorry for Ego as well as himself.

“It’s f-fine, I-I should have seen it-it coming.” Ego tried to shrug it off after he was able to stop crying but the shakiness of his voice and how visibly upset he was let him down. Ninja Brian wasn’t going to let Ego blame himself. He tried to sign that to him but Ego didn’t understand. Brian tried to find a piece of paper and a pen, he normally kept them on hand but was pretty sure he’d left it in Danny’s room the day he had heard Ego and Danny.

Brian hated relying on these methods of communication, especially with someone he spent so much time around. He’d always been scared of creating mental links and had only done so with Danny. The experience was painful for both of them, and Brian had to be careful with his thoughts as at first, he had little control over which thoughts Danny would end up hearing. At this point, Ego knew his deepest secret, so maybe it wasn’t as big a deal.

Ninja Brian pointed at his head and then Ego’s. Ego was quick to pick up on what Brian was trying to say and nodded. He knew that mental links could hurt but he had already formed a few with members of TWRP so he was used to the pain by now.

Focusing his chakras, Brian began creating a mental link, feeling his thoughts slip out of his head and into Ego’s. It wasn’t exactly what was happening but it was the best way that he could describe how it felt at first. Later, after the link was almost finished being created it felt like his brain was being split in half, and then it felt like half of it had been taken away and was being replaced with half of Ego’s brain. Throughout all of this Ninja Brian had to ignore the pain and concentrate on finishing the link. When it was done he broke away from Ego, realising that their heads were almost touching and somehow, they had moved closer and held his head in pain. Ego reacted in a similar way. While he had created more links that Brian had, he’d forgotten just how painful it was.

“Did-ugh… did it work?” Ego asked, concealing a burp as nausea set in. He knew that mental links sometimes didn’t work the first time. When he tried creating one with Phobos it had taken three times before the link was established.

‘I think so,’ Brian replied, signing but if the shocked look on Ego’s face told him anything, he didn’t need to.

“Brian I just, I just heard you,” Ego said in amazement. Even though he had created mental links before those people didn’t have voices to begin with or they did speak but it wasn’t frequent. Ninja Brian, on the other hand, had been in a battle that ended with his vocal cords being damaged before Danny could save him in time. Ego remembered waking Danny up from night terrors about the situation and the next day, with Brian’s permission, Danny told him about what had happened. It was the first time that Ego had seen Danny without his guard up. No persona, no flirting, nothing. It was also the day that Ego had begun falling for him.

Brian looked away from Ego shyly and Ego realised that Brian could hear what he was thinking.

‘Sorry,’ Brian ‘said’.

Ego shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it.” It wasn’t a big deal. Brian already knew how he felt.

‘I’m sorry that Danny hurt you. I should have paid more attention to how you acted around each other and warned you that he doesn’t do serious relationships.” Ninja Brian found himself blaming himself for what happened. He did that often, Ego had noticed this. He didn’t know all of Ninja Brian’s past, far from it, but he guessed it had something to do with that camp.

Ninja Brian winced and Ego cursed at himself, apologising.

‘It’s fine, just something we’ll have to get used to for now.’ Brian tried not to let any memories of the camp slip through, not wanting to subject Ego to the torture he’d endured for years. While Ego hadn’t been through it personally the freshness of the mental link meant that Ego would be able to feel the pain that Ninja Brian had been through. From the way Ego was grimacing some thoughts had slipped through.

‘Maybe we should change topics,’ Ninja Brian suggested, not wanting Ego to feel any more of the pain he had been through.

“Good idea, so I’ve had some ideas for the album.”


	2. Chapter 2

Ego and Ninja Brian continued talking and became closer as the days went by. Danny continued to go out with random girls, and he still acted flirty with Ego, or Arin as he told Brian to refer to him now. He was going to find out eventually that Ego was also the guy they met on Earth that animated a music video for them, so why not tell him now before instead of Brian overhearing his thoughts. The fact that Danny didn’t realise that he had hurt both of them added more insult to injury, but now that they could talk to each other, Arin and Brian found that the pain they felt was beginning to subside.

A couple of weeks later the mental link was under control and they didn’t have to worry about any awkward thoughts slipping through. Brian wasn’t overly thankful for the images of Ego and Danny having sex, and Arin didn’t really need to see people being murdered. It still made him shiver thinking about it. He’d forgotten that Ninja Brian could be deadly.

Another reason Arin was glad that the link had been fully sealed was the fact that he had started having dreams. Dreams of a sexual nature. This wasn’t uncommon; however, these dreams were usually about Danny. Now, Danny had been replaced, and Brian was the focus of his wet dreams.

The first time it happened he chose to ignore it. He’d been around Brian a lot, so it was only natural that he would be in his subconscious.

Then Brian was in his dreams a second time, then a third, then a fourth. Arin began to think about Ninja Brian a lot more than usual, and the thoughts ranged from wholesome and romantic to impure and sexy. Being around Brian became difficult, but he didn’t want to lose the friendship they had. He thought he was doing a good job hiding his feelings but suddenly Brian seemed to never want to be around him. It hurt but Arin should have known this was coming. Ninja Brian only wanted him for comfort; someone he could complain about Danny too. Brian could never love him. Arin was beginning to think no one would.

Ninja Brian had his reasons for avoiding Arin. He had noticed that Ego was acting strange around him but did not realise that Arin was harbouring feelings for him. If he had known that then he would not have been considering his own feelings to be a problem.

He knew it was stupid to fall for someone else, especially someone he had grown so close to. Ninja Brian also knew that while he was getting over Danny, he wasn’t truly over him yet. It still hurt when Danny went out, it still hurt when he brought people home, but it hurt more to think that Arin no longer wanted to be around him.

He knew that Arin wouldn’t love him. Brian had been conditioned to think that he would never be loved, a side effect from the treatment he had received at the camp. While he had tried to ignore the lies he had been told, he still found himself believing that he was unlovable. Arin acting weird around him just proved this. He had seen Brian’s feelings and knew that he needed to get out while he could. Maybe that was what Danny had tried to do by sleeping with so many different women, being loud every night. When that clearly didn’t work on offsetting Brian’s crush maybe he then decided to use Ego.

Again, Ninja Brian found himself blaming himself for what happened between Arin and Danny. Then he found himself blaming himself for every bad thing that had ever happened that he had been there for. It was a common cycle for Ninja Brian, one that could rarely be broken when he got into this headspace.

It didn’t take long for Arin to see that Brian was suffering again, and this time he knew that he had caused it. While the idea of actually admitting his crush out loud was terrifying, Ego knew that it was better than whatever was happening at the moment. He’d just tell Brian how he felt, have Brian reject him and then he could try and move on while they continued to be friends.

At least that was how it went in Ego’s mind, yet after he confessed he found himself pinned up against the wall, all lights had been turned off, and he was being kissed.

Ninja Brian was kissing him.

As they kissed Brian sent thoughts to Arin, telling him that he had fallen for him but was scared that it would ruin their friendship, or that his crush was just as futile as his feelings for Danny had been. He let Arin know how much he cared for him.

Arin couldn’t think straight while he was being kissed, unable to focus well enough to let his thoughts reach Ninja Brian. Maybe it was better that way considering the position he was in was causing his mind to fill with all kinds of indecent thoughts. Was it too soon for that?

“Fuck Bri,” Arin moaned as Brian moved and began kissing his neck, sucking on the skin to leave marks.

‘Mine,’ Ninja Brian thought with a smirk.

Before Arin could react, the lights were had been turned back on, and he saw Brian fumble with his mask, pulling it back on. It upset Arin a bit, knowing that Ninja Brian only showed his face to people he could fully trust, meaning that Danny was the only one who had seen his face.

“Well, gotten over me already Ego,” Danny laughed. While he was joking the comment stung, not that Danny would ever know. Ninja Brian could see that Arin was hurt by Danny’s joke and held his hand. There was no point hiding their relationship, and he didn’t want to. Arin appreciated the gesture and felt any anger or pain leave his body thanks to Brian comforting him.

“Well, I’ll leave you lovebirds to it,” Danny winked before leaving. Neither of the pair would know at that moment he was happy for both of them. He didn’t know why, but Ninja Brian had always seemed reluctant to date, and he felt bad after basically using Ego to see if he liked guys. Danny wasn’t sure if he ever gave Ego a proper apology and made a mental note to make to next time they were alone together.

“Sometimes I can’t believe that guy,” Arin muttered under his breath. He knew that Danny meant no harm, but how someone could truly be that oblivious was beyond him. Brian shook his head, even though he had been around Danny for so long he also couldn’t understand it sometimes.

‘Forget about him. At least we have each other now.’ Brian knew it was cheesy, but it was also true. While Danny was an important part of their lives, and Ninja Brian would never turn his back on him, there were times where Danny didn’t need to be the focus of their attention. Not anymore.

“You’re right. In fact, I was wondering, well I wanted to take you on a date, or like, well I know you don’t really like going out so just go on a d-date here,” Arin stumbled over his words, trying to explain what he meant. Brian appreciated that Arin knew him well enough to not take him to a fancy restaurant or anything like that. When out in public Ninja Brian got way too paranoid, something he’d tried to get over but couldn’t yet.

‘I’d love to, thank you,” Brian ‘said’ before leaning in and giving Arin a kiss, this timeless aggressive, and instead sweet, almost innocent, especially compared to before. It did a good job of hiding the fact that Brian was worrying about the fact that he had never been on a date before.


	3. Chapter 3

Brian was incredibly nervous about his date with Arin. Even though he knew that it wasn’t going to be anything fancy it was still nerve-racking. He’d accompanied Danny on many dates before, but he knew that Danny wasn’t the best person to take dating advice from. At least he knew what not to do.

Maybe he was overthinking things. It was just a simple dinner, then they’d probably just watch a movie. Arin wouldn’t be expecting anything else, would he?

While Brian had been confident kissing Arin, he hadn’t actually had much practice, only kissing a few guys at the ninja camp before finding out that it was a trap to find out that he was gay. Ninja Brian was surprised that he was even okay with kissing Arin considering everything that had happened in his past, but he knew that he could trust Ego.

Sex, on the other hand, terrified Brian.

He was scared to admit to Arin that he was a virgin, knowing that most people at his age had lost their virginity at a significantly younger age. It wasn’t so much that he was embarrassed about it, more that he was afraid that his lack of knowledge and experience would disappoint Arin.

A knock at his door distracted Brian from his thoughts, which was probably for the best. He knew that it was Ego because Danny had already left for a date of his own.

Ninja Brian pulled his mask on before opening the door to reveal Ego wearing a light pink shirt, paired with a pair of suit pants. Brian suddenly felt very under-dressed, but he had only brought several ninja guises, not expecting to find romance. He had worn his best one, of course, but it didn’t feel like enough when Arin was dressed so smart, he’d even tied his hair back into a neat bun, although he had some hair loose at the front, framing his face perfectly.

‘You look amazing,’ Brian complemented Arin, unable to take his eyes off of him. He wondered how he could ever deserve someone so wonderful.

“It’s nothing, you look great too.” Ego shrugged off Brian’s compliment, not to be rude, but because he noticed that Brian was uncomfortable and he knew that Brian probably didn’t have any date clothes. It wasn’t a big deal to him anyway. He thought that Brian looked good in his usual ensemble and kinda found it sexy. Maybe he just had a kink for strange outfits, or maybe it was the ninja thing, Arin wasn’t sure.

Ninja Brian blushed at Arin praising him as if he had actually done much to look nice. Okay, maybe he plucked his eyebrows since they were the only thing on his face that he could do something with that Arin would see but no one could prove that he had. The slight redness could be from anything.

Thinking about it Brian wondered why he had never shown Arin his face before. He’d trusted Ego for a long time, and now that they were dating, wasn’t it time?

‘Uh, maybe I’d look better without this.’

Brian took a deep breath before slowly beginning to remove his mask. He didn’t notice that his hands were shaking until Arin took hold of them, stopping Brian.

“Bri, you don’t need to do this if you don’t want to. I don’t care what you look like or anything like that, I just care that you’re comfortable.” Arin smiled and Brian, leaning in and kissing the top of his head.

‘I want to do this,’ Brian ‘said’, his ‘voice’ firm.

“You sure?”

Ninja Brian nodded before taking his mask off, still slow, almost cautious in his movements, but more confident. Once the mask was off he felt strange, almost as if he was naked, but somehow the removal of his mask seemed more intimate than the removal of any other piece of his clothing.

Arin was taken aback, not just because Brian was so handsome, but due to the fact that Brian removing his mask showed an enormous amount of trust.

‘I know it’s probably not what you expected.’ Brian knew that he looked a fair bit older than Danny despite the fact that they were only a few years apart in age. His hair was greying, he wasn’t sure if the beard he had started growing out suited him, and he knew that it was also grey, showing his age. Of course, Ego knew his age, it wasn’t something he would hide, but the difference in their age felt more apparent knowing how different they looked. There was also the fact that his face was littered with scars, most small and faded, but a few were a lot more prominent. One drug into his lips, Brian guessed that Arin felt it when they were kissing, another near his left eye, going half-way down his cheek. The last Arin knew about but hadn’t seen; the one that caused him to lose his voice. It was worse than the others, jolting out due to thick scar tissue. Ninja Brian didn’t often feel self-conscious, but now he could see every flaw he had.

Arin, however, didn’t see those flaws, and didn’t see them as flaws. He didn’t really care what Brian looked like, loving him for his personality and not something he considered so shallow, but he did think Brian was incredibly handsome. The scars showed he was a strong fighter, showed that he fought, not only for his own life, but for others. Seeing the lips that had kissed him so passionately, so delicately, so many different ways and still there were so many more ways to be kissed, the facial hair that framed them that suited Ninja Brian so well. His hair, slightly pushed back from taking his mask off, wasn’t cut as short as Arin would have guessed.

Arin ruffled Brian’s hair, appreciating how soft it was, to help get it to sit where it would be naturally.

‘I need to get it cut,’ Brian shrugged, blushing. Arin loved seeing Brian like this, so natural, not constantly on edge.

“It looks great. You are so handsome,” Arin hugged Brian, kissing his cheek. Ninja Brian wasn’t used to being embraced like this. Danny hugged him a lot but never with so much love. Brian wrapped his arms around Arin, careful not to hold him too tight. He’d never let himself hug Danny back, fearing that he would never let go. Brian didn’t want to let Arin go, but he also didn’t feel any fear of losing him. He did, however, plan to hug Ego for a little longer but his stomach decided to remind him that he had barely eaten due to nerves.

Arin laughed, and Brian continued to blush, cursing his bodies timing.

“Come on let’s go eat.” Arin wrapped his arm around Brian’s waist, guiding him to the dining room. Their date had officially started.


	4. Chapter 4

Arin hadn’t been on many dates before, and any relationships he had been in hadn’t lasted long, especially since he was constantly moving between his home on Earth and his space mansion living very different lives, one as a struggling animator and the other a famous rapper. It was part of the reason that he had decided to reveal his true identity on the newest Starbomb album. The dating scene was hard, and he was afraid of people finding out about his secret life, so he just ignored it. So when setting up his date with Ninja Brian he looked online for ideas, finding cute ideas that he saved on his computer. Some were for future dates that he hoped they had. He wanted to give Brian the best that he could. When their mental link had been unstable he had seen some of what Ninja Brian had been through, even though Brian tried to keep them away when he slept his nightmares became Ego’s nightmares. He saw Brian being tortured, not just when he was with his old clan but when he had to listen to Danny talk about being ‘in love’ again and again, watching his flirt and sleep with so many different girls, how it hurt. Ego understood that hurt and wanted to make sure that he didn’t hurt Brian like that.

Maybe he overdid it for their first date, but he always put one-hundred percent into everything he did if he cared about it, and he really cared about Brian.

The lights were dimmed and were coloured pink and yellow, their colours. At first, Arin thought about using candles but knew that Ninja Brian wasn’t a big fan of fire, especially candles as they had been used as a torture device. The lights looked nicer anyway and showed more sentiment.

The dining table was dressed in a white cloth, and in the centre was a collection of light pink and yellow flowers that Brian had never seen before on Earth. He briefly wondered how far Arin travelled to find them.

“Take a seat Brian,” Arin guided Brian to his seat, and helped push his seat in like Brian had seen guys do in many movies, and sometimes Danny would do it if he was unsure of how much a girl liked him. He knew that Ego was doing it because he cared and he pushed any thoughts of the way Danny dated. This wasn’t the same.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Arin gave Brian a quick kiss on the forehead before going to get the food.

While alone Ninja Brian took in the scenery, and how beautiful everything looked. He had never been treated like this before, not that Danny treated him badly, not by any means. Danny was just oblivious, and well, heterosexual. Of course Brian would never get this kind of treatment from Danny, and he didn’t long for it anymore. He just wasn’t used to this, and it made him feel strange. A good kind of strange. It was almost suffocating, but in a good way. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it wasn’t unlike how he felt when he finally escaped from the ninja camp and Danny promised to take care of him. It was the feeling of being cared for, something he had been starved of for a long time.

It wasn’t until Arin came back that Brian realised how emotional he was feeling. Ego quickly put the plates of pasta down on the table and rushed to Brian’s side. He instantly thought that he had done something wrong, that something here triggered terrible memories for Ninja Brian, or that he had realised that he didn’t actually feel the same way about him. Maybe this really was too far for a first date.

“Brian, what’s wrong,” Arin wanted to wipe Brian’s tears away but he knew that Brian wasn’t a fan of his face being touched and he preferred a bit more warning before he was touched.

‘Nothing’s wrong. I’m sorry I just, well I’ve never been treated like this before. Its stupid, I’m sorry.” Brian wiped his tears. He couldn’t believe that he had cried over something so stupid and made Ego worry. That he really had become that weak. He was ruining their date, and for what? Just because he hadn’t experienced this before? He was a fierce ninja. A weapon of mass destruction. Of course he hadn’t dated before, it wasn’t something that he had been permitted to do, especially after the clan discovered he was gay. He was too disgusting to date anyway.

“Bri, you’re not just a weapon, you’re not disgusting either. I know that this is kinda overwhelming. It’s not your fault,” Arin went to say that considering what he had been through it made sense but he felt like it wasn’t needed. He wasn’t meant to know most of that information anyway and would wait until Brian wanted to talk about it, if he ever did.

Brian was surprised that Arin had heard his thoughts, but then remembered that sometimes when a mental link is still new intense emotions can cause thoughts to slip through, especially with people that you love and are incredibly close to. While Ninja Brian didn’t want to burden Arin, he was thankful for Arin’s kind words.

‘Thank you, Arin, I don’t know what came over me.” Brian truly didn’t. He’d seen dates like this in movies and had been to dates similar although they were not his own. Everything was just so beautiful.

“Don’t worry about it,” Arin leaned in and gave Brian a kiss, letting Brian meet him halfway as a way of reassuring that he was okay with being kissed. He gave Brian a kind smile before returning to the food, putting one plate in front of Brian and the other in front of him. It was nothing that special, just a simple pasta dish. Ego had never been much of a chef but he wanted to make something to show to Brian that he was important.

The meal was a little over spiced, and some of the pasta wasn’t cooked all the way through, but overall it was enjoyable. Ninja Brian had definitely had worse when Danny decided to try and learn cooking to impress ladies. He never got the hang of it and gave up after he gave the two of them food poisoning, which wasn’t great considering they had a small apartment with only one bathroom. Ego was a little disappointed in himself and wished he had tasted what he had made beforehand and been a little bit more careful, but when Brian said he liked the meal and apricated the fact that Arin had gone through the effort of making it his face lit up, although he claimed it was nothing, choosing not to mention the fact that he was terrified of starting a fire, the kitchen was a mess and he had burnt his thumb.

“I uh, I didn’t have time to make dessert but there’s a tub of ice-cream in the freezer. We could eat that and watch a movie?” Arin had planned to make them these cute jar cakes that he had seen online but didn’t check what ingredients he didn’t have, and ended up buying more flour than he would probably ever need, then again maybe he’d cook and bake for Ninja Brian more often.

‘That sounds great.’ It had been a while since they had really had any relaxation time, deadlines were approaching for their album, they probably shouldn’t even be having time off now but Danny kept complaining that his balls were gonna fall off if he didn’t get laid soon, and Brian and Arin wanted some time alone together so they agreed. It would bite their asses later but none of them would really regret it.

Arin went to get the ice-cream, strawberry with real strawberries in it, while Brian found a movie to watch. He knew that Ego wasn’t a big fan of horror, and he hated any movies about assassins because they were so inaccurate so he stayed clear of that. Scrolling through movies became boring and nothing was jumping out at Brian.

“Hercules is good, you seen it?” Arin’s voice broke Brian from staring blankly at the screen, not paying any attention anymore. He hadn’t even realised that he stopped on the film, and while he recognised the cover art for it reading the description told him that he hadn’t and he shook his head.

“I think you’d like it.” Arin held himself back from saying that Meg kind of reminded him of Brian, in a weird way. Tough yet caring, strong.

Ninja Brian nodded and put the movie on. While it was staring up Arin passed him a spoon, making it clear that they would be eating the ice-cream out of the tub, all of it, Ego insisted.

“Or until we’re sick of the stuff.”

Brian, who had a massive sweet-tooth, stated that that would be impossible. A clear challenge that was quickly forgotten as the movie got further into the plot and they were both mindlessly eating until the tub was empty and on the floor for someone to clean up later.

Brian ended up curled up next to Arin on the couch with Arin’s arms wrapped around him. They were both falling asleep by the end credits.

‘You have good taste in movies,’ Brian sleepily complimented Arin, who gave him a quick kiss and Brian wasn’t sure if it was Arin that tasted like strawberry or if eating so much ice-cream had left the flavour in his mouth permanently.

“I love you.” Arin said it without thinking, but quickly wondered if it was too soon, especially with the way Brian was looking at him in shock, but his expression quickly faded back into a loving gaze.

‘I love you too.’ Brian snuggled into Arin’s chest, his face red hot and if anyone asked he’d refuse to admit that he likes cuddling.

He understood what he felt earlier at dinner. Brian had been starved of love for so long, and while Danny had soon that he did care for him and love him as a friend but it hurt when Brian had longer for more than that. He’d never had someone like Arin, he’d never had someone love him like this and he’d never loved like this but now he never wanted to stop.

**Author's Note:**

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